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THE DEFINITIVE SPEC OPS RESOURCE FOR FITNESS AND SELECTION

World War I

M-1 Garand, “The greatest battle implement ever devised”, Adopted Today 1936

By Steve Balestrieri | January 9, 2019 Admin, Army, History, Opinion, SOF, SOFREP News, USMC, Weapons

The United States Army was the only combatant to enter World War II who armed their standard infantrymen with a semi-automatic rifle. The rifle was an iconic image of the American GI of our Greatest Generation during the war. And the Garand served from the steaming jungles of the Pacific to the sands of North More »

Remember Our Veterans Every Day and Not Just Once a Year

By Steve Balestrieri | November 12, 2018 Admin, Air Force, Army, History, Navy, Opinion, SOF, SOFREP News, SpecOps, US SOCOM, USMC

Opinion: This has been a busy week in our neck of the woods. We’ve been quite occupied as our town has been preparing for Veterans Day and I can proudly say that our bucolic little burg in the Northeast has never been one to just pay lip service to days like Veterans Day and Memorial More »

World War I, “The War to End All Wars” Centennial

By Steve Balestrieri | November 9, 2018 Admin, Air Force, Air Power, Army, Coalition SOF, France, Germany, History, Military Aviation, Navy, Sea Power, USMC

At the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the Armistice to end World War I was to take effect. It ended the bloodbath which consumed Europe from 1914 until November 11, 1918. Nearly 20,000,000 people were dead including 9-11,000,000 troops and a like number of civilians. Another 20,000,000 were wounded. The More »

William “Wild Bill” Donovan OSS, Awarded the Medal of Honor in WWI

By Steve Balestrieri | October 15, 2018 Army, espionage, Heroes of U.S. Special Operations, History, SOF, SpecOps, US SOCOM

When the name “Wild Bill” Donovan is mentioned, most think of the World War II OSS (Office of Strategic Services) which later became CIA and another part of it branched off to later become the U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets) of today. But what many people don’t realize is that long before he became More »

T.E. Lawrence, Born on this Day 1888, Author of Seven Pillars of Wisdom

By Steve Balestrieri | August 16, 2018 Coalition SOF, espionage, History, SOF, SpecOps

If you aspire to become a member of the Special Operations Forces community, then the name T.E. Lawrence should be one you become intimately familiar with. Commonly known as Lawrence of Arabia, he was one of the most fascinating characters of the 20th century. Lawrence was an accomplished archaeologist, British military officer, a foreign diplomat More »

Orange, MA Hosts Armed Forces Weekend Military Expo

By Special Operations | May 21, 2018 Air Force, Air Power, Army, History, Military Aviation, SOF, SOFREP News, Weapons

The small town of Orange, Massachusetts was the scene of a large Armed Forces Expo over the weekend complete with battle reenactments from the Civil War, World War I and World War II. They even had a flyby with a C-47 Skytrain, complete with markings from the D-Day invasion. A few lucky visitors got to More »

Special Operations Soldiers Honored in Ceremony at Ft. Bragg

By Special Operations | May 11, 2018 Army, Heroes of U.S. Special Operations, History, SOF, SOFREP News, SpecOps, US SOCOM

Gary Rose was a Green Beret medic in Vietnam and was recently awarded the Medal of Honor from President Trump for actions he performed in a particularly hazardous and dangerous mission there in 1970. Rose and eight other Special Forces, Civil Affairs, and Psychological Operations troops were honored by being named “distinguished members of the Regiment” More »

April 4, 1917, US Senate Approves Declaration of War With Germany

By Steve Balestrieri | April 4, 2018 Air Force, Army, History, Navy, Sea Power, Weapons

When President Woodrow Wilson appeared before Congress on April 2, 1917 asking them to declare war on Germany, it wasn’t a snap or rash decision. Rather it was something Wilson wished to avoid at all costs. When the first World War broke out in 1914, much of Europe rejoiced, like they were en route to More »